Community

Community

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT a small group of believers meet together in homes to study the Scriptures and life of Jesus. We are a collective of married and single people, with different faith backgrounds and ethnicities. Everyone is given the opportunity to share their thoughts on the Scripture that is shared. Each person’s voice brings a richness to the conversation from their perspective and life experience. I often leave pondering questions or new things about Scripture that I hadn’t previously known or given much thought to beforehand.

Since we started meeting and discussing, I’ve started to see Scripture in such a new light. How often the text is written to “we” and not just “me.” I’m taking a step back to better understand that the New Testament was written to the body of believers as a whole, and not just in a way that always applies only to my individual life. This has led me to acknowledge how needed community is within the context of our faith.

Our Christian life was meant to be lived within a community of believers who can come alongside us, encourage us, challenge us, and help us to grow in our understanding of Jesus. When we come together, everything must be done so that the church, the people of God, is built up in our faith, understanding and love so that we can go out and live the ways of Jesus in our everyday lives. If we don’t have community with other believers, in whatever format works for us, we won’t have all that we need to live a godly life. We’ll miss the richness that comes from listening to others and learning from their varied life experiences. We need each other. We need community.

Lord, thank you for the community of people you place in our lives that can challenge us and build us up so that we are able to go out and love people as you did. Amen.

-Kendra

One Good Step: Are you currently a part of a community of believers that uplifts and challenges you? If not, spend some time today asking God how you could go about finding the right place for you to be.